Sips & Sites & Bites

If you’ve ever seen a Jack Daniel’s Barrel Tree glowing in the winter night, you know there’s something undeniably charming about a stack of whiskey barrels dressed up for the season. It’s festive, it’s a little quirky, and, like most things involving Jack Daniel’s, it comes with a story.

This year, that story has a special twist. Jack Daniel’s is once again turning its iconic holiday Barrel Trees into a nationwide effort to help junior-enlisted service members and their families get home for the holidays through its long-running charity initiative, Operation Ride Home.

A Barrel With Purpose

Across the country, 12 of these towering Barrel Trees are currently on display, and every single barrel used to build them is now up for grabs. For $200, you can take home an authentic Jack Daniel’s whiskey barrel from one of the trees, and feel good knowing your purchase is doing more than decorating your porch or becoming your next DIY project.

Proceeds from each barrel go directly to Operation Ride Home, a partnership between Jack Daniel’s and the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA). Since the program launched in 2011, it has helped more than 14,000 service members and their loved ones travel home and has raised more than $4 million to support holiday travel from bases across all 50 states.

As Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Chris Fletcher puts it, the goal is simple: connection.

“Each barrel carries a piece of Jack Daniel’s tradition while helping bring our heroes home for the holidays,” he says. And that sentiment captures what makes this initiative feel so heartfelt … it’s whiskey meeting real-world impact.

Where You’ll Find the Trees

Jack’s first Barrel Tree went up in Lynchburg back in 2011, a 26-foot beacon built from 140 American white oak barrels … the same kind used to age the whiskey. Today, the tradition has grown far beyond Tennessee.

This year’s trees are lighting up cities including:

• Buffalo, NY
• Charlotte, NC
• Inglewood, CA
• Lynchburg, TN
• Memphis, TN
• Nashville, TN
• New Brunswick, NJ
• Oklahoma City, OK
• San Antonio, TX
• San Francisco, CA
• Tampa, FL
• Washington, D.C.

Each barrel has already lived a full life aging whiskey in Lynchburg, and now it’s getting a second act as a symbol of community, celebration, and support.

How to Bring One Home

If you want a piece of Jack Daniel’s holiday tradition, and a way to help reconnect military families this season, you can purchase a barrel at operationridehome.com. Whether you turn it into a table, a planter, or keep it as-is as a conversation starter, it’ll come with the added warmth of knowing it helped bring someone home.

And really, what’s more in the spirit of the season than that?